Defining a protest song as one that "addresses a political issue in a way which aligns itself with the underdog," Lynskey starts his story with Billie Holiday’s harrowing 1939 anti-lynching ballad, "Strange Fruit," and ably takes us through the historic tunes that helped sustain and promote the civil rights, labor and anti-Vietnam war movements as well as non-American music from The Clash in Britain, Victor Jara in Chile and Fela Kuti in Nigeria.

It’s a bracing and informative survey, even if you’re familiar with the topic, and it sent me thinking and talking to people about all-time favorite protest songs. A quick poll of Nation staffers and friends of the magazine produced an eclectic play list:

Mother Jones Publisher Steve Katz wrote to say that Steve Goodman’s "My Name is Peggy Evans" is the song that’s stuck with him all these years. Free Speech TV’s Don Rojas votes for Bob Marley’s "Redemption Song." Care2’s Cindy Samuels couldn’t pick just one among vintage classics "Union Maid," "Bread and Roses," and "We Shall Overcome." GritTV’s Sarah Jaffe lauds Patti Smith’s "Radio Baghdad" and the Dropkick Murphys’ version of "Which Side are You On." Nation Institute Investigative Editor Esther Kaplan counters with what she argues is the "ultimate version of the song," featured in the film Harlan County USA and sung by Florence Reece, who wrote the ballad during a coal mining strike in the 1930s. Alternet‘s Washington, DC editor Adele Stan cites the Isley Brothers’ "Fight the Power" and Buffalo Springfield’s "For What It’s Worth." TruthOut editor Jason Leopold argues for Barry McGuire’s version of PF Sloan’s "Eve of Destruction," and FAIR founder and Head of the Park Media Center at Ithaca College Jeff Cohen named a too-often-ignored 1970 song "What About Me?" from the San Francisco band Quicksilver Messenger Service. "It has almost everything — environment, media criticism, class, youth rebellion, repression, optimism."

4

5

Seriously picking a top-ten is an impossible task, but in the interests of getting the conversation started, here are my choices. The criteria includes musical quality as well as topicality and I tried to stray some from the totally predictable. Hope you enjoy the videos!